Do I have social phobia if I am embarrassed to go out in public because of my OCD rituals?

May 5, 2014 by Karen Hill | Filed Under: Health

Although one of the criteria for social phobia is that sufferers avoid places or situations where they may become embarrassed, avoiding places over the specific embarrassment of doing rituals in public would not meet the definition of social phobia.

The DSM-IV-TR (2000) requires that the symptoms of a disorder not be better accounted for by another diagnosis. If the embarrassment were not because of the rituals, but because of a fear of being humiliated in public, then it would more likely be social phobia.

If the embarrassment is over a ritual, OCD better accounts for the embarrassment because if you did not have OCD, then you would not be performing rituals that are embarrassing.